From: Femi Oyelola Kaduna
A group of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to end the importation of refined petroleum products by fully operationalizing existing government and private refineries.
This was contained in an open letter to the president signed by the Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) Rev. David Ugolor on behalf of the CSO representatives in Kaduna yesterday.
The letter added that stopping the importation would not only reduce the cost of fuel but also stabilize the prices of other essential goods.
The CSOs who were represented by Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, Executive Director
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani) Executive Director YAIGA Africa Samson itodo, the Founding Executive Director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC)Abiola Akioyede, the Director, Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) Rev. Father John Patrick Ngoyi.
Others include, the Executive Director of Policy Alert Tijani Bolton, Executive Director, of Africa Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre-LSD) Monday Osasah, Lead Director of Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) Eze Onyekpere and Executive Director, of Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre (SERDC)Tijani Abdulkareem.
The group urged the president to establish a credible and non-partisan framework for civic engagement and policy dialogue at the Presidency to address the root causes of the protests by implementing short, medium and long-term strategies to alleviate the economic hardships faced by Nigerians.
